“I’m using a 3D scanner to digitalize a radome (the nose of an aircraft). With the scanned data, I can produce the exact replica we need to repair damage, such as dents, to the radome. Unfortunately, a dent cannot be straightened, so we have to cut out that section. Once we’ve done that, we place the radome nose-first into my radome replica – a perfect fit. My colleagues then place strips of fiberglass across the hole to fill it. These strips are still as soft as fabric when they are laid down, so we apply a special resin to harden them. Then we seal the radome with the copy in a large vacuum bag and put it into a huge oven to bake at 175 degrees Celsius for up to 7.5 hours. When we take the radome out again, the fibers are fused together and hard. The repaired radome is now as good as new.”